Today we hear the Gospel of St. Luke Chapter 8:26-39 in which Jesus arrives in the land of the Gedarenes and encounters a man possessed with demons from the city. The man entreated the Lord not to torment him for Jesus had commanded that the demons leave this man. The demons asked to be loosed into a herd of swine from which they fell down the embankment into the water and drowned, thus freeing the man from demonic possession.
This Sunday October 25th we read the Gospel of the Parable of the Rich man and Lazarus. (Luke 16:19-31), prescribed for the 5th Sunday of Luke. Jesus taught us many great truths with stories and illustrations called parables.
On Monday morning, October 19, 2020, His Beatitude Metropolitan Theodosius (Lazor), former Archbishop of Washington, Metropolitan of All-America and Canada, fell asleep in the Lord in Canonsburg, PA after an extended illness. He was the Primate of the Orthodox Church in America from 1977 until his retirement in 2002.
The Gospel of the 4th Sunday of Saint Luke is from Luke 8:5-15 entitled the Parable of the Sower, in which we hear of the good seed who were not only receptive to God’s Word but were also Sowers of the Word for others.
Today in the Orthodox Church we read the Gospel for the third Sunday of Luke, the story of the raising from the dead of the only son of the widow of Nain. As we recall, Jesus was entering the town of Nain and coming out of the town was a funeral procession with mourners including the mother of this boy to which Jesus said, “Don’t Cry”. He then approached the bier carrying the body and touched it saying “Young man I say to thee, arise”, and the young man rose and began talking, and Jesus gave him back to his mother, and they all praised Him.
This Sunday we hear the Gospel from the Evangelist Luke 6:31-36 which extolls the simplest principle of moral conduct, the Golden Rule as taught by our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. It is a case of simple justice – to return like for like in positive terms.
This Sunday marks the first gospel reading from the Evangelist Luke, in which Jesus calls forth his first disciples, which is an act that is always contemporary. The same Jesus of the New Testament continues to call disciples to his holy Church to this day.
The Gospel lesson for this the 15th Sunday Of Matthew (Matthew 22:35-46) calls our attention to the most important teaching of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ which is love.
Feast of the Elevation of the Holy Cross: This feast is the most important of the Fall season, celebrating God’s redeeming love and its renewable consequences for us. We seek redemption, the love of God in Christ shown forth in His Holy Cross. This great feast of the exaltation celebrates our redemption and renewed life through the blood of God, granting us eternal righteousness and salvation!
Friday, September 11, 2020, marks the 19th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorists attacks on New York City, Shanksville, PA, and Arlington, VA.
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